April

By Lauren Appelbaum and Chris Tilly
After nearly two years of recession, the United States economy
entered a period of slow recovery in the third quarter of 2009. However,
despite seven quarters of GDP growth, jobs have just barely started to
recover.

March

On February 18, the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs held its 7th annual School of Public Affairs Day at Los Angeles City Hall.
Hosted each year by City Controller Wendy Greuel, the annual event brings graduate students from the Departments of Public Policy, Urban Planning and Social Welfare, to downtown LA to study an urban social policy issue impacting the city of Los Angeles. This year, the topic was "How should the City of Los Angeles prioritize its renewable energy goals while creating accountability to the DWP ratepayers?"

February

Gridlock, rising fuel costs, and blighted roads are common frustrations on the tops to-do list across government agencies in the state and the country. Recent developments with plans for high-speed rail and a subway to the sea in California show government planners addressing problems to lessen congestion.

by Robin HefflerA recently signed agreement between UCLA, an Indian university, and governmental officials in India will enable the School of Public Affairs’ urban planning students to work as summer interns and participate in hands-on projects at India’s leading architecture and urban planning university. Some UCLA faculty will present lectures and workshops there as well.

January

An urban planning doctoral student in Los Angeles is helping Egyptians at all levels broadcast their stories to the online world during the chaotic days of protests and rioting through the only means of communication they have left — phone land lines. John Scott-Railton, who has done research and studied in Egypt, decided to begin tweeting and sending out audio reports directly from Egyptians via Twitter and YouTube when the Egyptian government shut down Internet and cell phone service last Thursday. Calling his contact

The American Planning Association (APA) has selected Urban Planning Alumnus Alvaro Huerta to receive the 2011 National Planning Achievement Award for Advancing Diversity & Social Change in Honor of Paul Davidoff.
The award honors a project, group or individual for promoting diversity or demonstrating a sustained social commitment to advocacy within the planning field. The award honors the late APA member, Paul Davidoff, for his contributions to the planning field.

For the 11th time in the past fourteen years, a UCLA Urban Planning student has won an award for the best transportation policy and planning master’s project, thesis, or dissertation from the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) in Washington, DC. The CUTC (http://cutc.tamu.edu) was established in 1979 as the umbrella organization representing more than 70 major transportation research centers and institutes in the United States.

November

With their growing influence on policy Asian Americans are now key players in electoral politics and voting behavior. Important questions regarding decisions by minority groups such as Asians have sprung into the mind of those fomulating public opinion. Are they influential? Do they tend to vote as liberals or conservatives? What is their polling turnout compared to other groups? Voice of America recently asked these questions to Professor Paul Ong to guage the seemily equal influence of Asian American voters.